Introduction

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the new (and hopefully improved) BREN-TEN.org! This website was established for the purpose of sharing information about one of the greatest handguns and cartridges of the 20th century; the Bren Ten 10mm!

The company that produced the Bren Ten (Dornaus & Dixon Enterprises, Inc.) only lasted a few short years and fewer than 1,500 pistols were produced, but the 10mm Auto cartridge lives on. The 10mm Auto may not share the same popularity as some other cartridges, but it is an excellent choice for those looking for a multi-purpose autoloader that will fill both CCW and "woods carry" roles.

The heyday of the 10mm Auto was in the early '90s when the F.B.I. adopted the cartridge. Many manufacturers rushed to introduce new guns in anticipation of shooters abandoning their 9mms and .45s to follow in the footsteps of the G-Men. The 10mm proved to be a bit too much of a good thing, however, and was quickly supplanted in most law enforcement inventories by the 10mm's own offspring, the .40 Smith & Wesson. Once this happened, the market for 10mm firearms dwindled to the point where it just wasn't profitable to keep these guns in production.

Fast forward to around 2010 or so, and the 10mm Auto seems to enjoying a bit of a resurgence. Even though advances in bullet technology are motivating many law enforcement agencies to trade in their .40 S&W pistols for 9mms, the 10mm is slowly appearing in more and more platforms. We are also seeing an increasing number of smaller ammunition makers coming on line, and many are producing 10mm ammo with premium bullets loaded to respectable velocities.

It is doubtful that the 10mm will ever replace the 9mm or .45 ACP, or even the .40 S&W, but it seems that both shooters and the shooting industry are beginning to realize that the 10mm Auto is an incredibly versatile cartridge that is too good to ignore any longer.

My Personal Journey

My own journey with the Bren Ten began as a teenager during the first few years of the hit T.V. show, Miami Vice. Though long fascinated with firearms I did not come from a 'gun family' and so had little practical experience with them. After watching two seasons of Sonny Crockett packing a Bren, however, I knew what I was going to do as soon as I turned 21! Little did I know that by the time I would be of legal age to own a handgun the company that made the Bren Ten would be gone. I was also surprised at how few gun store 'aficionados' even knew of the pistol.

I had to wait a little longer than expected to buy my first handgun (I was still stationed in Korea on my 21st birthday), but when I did make it home I had to satisfy my desire for a handgun with a Sig Sauer P226 9mm. It's a great pistol, and I still have it today, but it's no Bren Ten. A few years later I was convinced that the Bren was gone forever and that I would probably never even have the opportunity to handle one, and so I began the hunt for the gun I believed would be as close as I would get. After a bit of searching I came home with a brand new S&W 1006 chambered in 10mm Auto.

Around 2000 I came across two things that would finally put a Bren Ten within reach. First of all I came across the original Bren Ten forum. This was an incredible storehouse of knowledge and I learned a lot from the veteran Bren crowd that frequented the site. Secondly, the online firearm auction/sales sites Gunbroker, AuctionArms, and GunsAmerica allowed me to search far beyond my local gun stores. It was in July of 2001 that I finally scored a nice Standard Model. I paid $1,600, which I thought was too much at the time, but I finally had my Bren!

It was around this time that the original Bren forum ceased operation. Not wanting to let all this information and experience to just disappear I started working on the first Bren Ten website in 2002. To be perfectly honest it was rather 'fugly,' but it was a start. With the second iteration of the website came the Bren Ten forum, and some of the old crowd started coming back. With their help I was able to continue building on the website, and more and more people participated on the forum.

Fast forward about fifteen years or so and we come to the latest installment of the website/forum. My previous website host was becoming increasingly difficult to work with, and so I finally made the decision to start over with a new host. Part of this restart included the dropping of the BREN-TEN.com name. Battling with my previous host just wasn't worth it anymore, and since this has never actually been a business I decided to change the name to BREN-TEN.org.

It is my hope to continue offering fellow Bren Ten and 10mm Auto enthusiasts an online source of information. I try to ensure that everything is as accurate and current as possible, but please keep in mind that the Bren Ten story is rather convoluted and obscure. Also, this is a hobby and not my 'day job,' and so my time and resources are limited. Please feel free to share your comments and suggestions (michael_b@roguechristian.com), and I hope to see you on the forum!

Acknowledgements

The Bren Ten story, though relatively short, is a convoluted one which includes a lot of missing, as well as inaccurate information to deal with. The BREN-TEN.org website and forum were originally designed as a place to not only share information, but to also hopefully gather some of those missing pieces. It has been very much a collaborative effort and could not have been created and maintained without the ongoing support of numerous knowledgeable individuals.

I would especially like to thank Bruce and Rob for their expertise and support. Their help has been crucial to the creation and ongoing development of BREN-TEN.org. A big 'thank you' is also due to Ron Carrillo who's book BREN TEN: The Heir Apparent is the source of the Bren Ten story. The information contained in his book has been a huge resource and his passing leaves a significant hole in the Bren community.  While researching information and looking for graphics and images for the website I found that some of the best Bren pics belong to Peko, who has an outstanding collection of Bren Tens.  He has graciously allowed me to use his images on this website.  Finally, I would like to thank all of you who share my fascination and enthusiasm for the Bren Ten and the incredible story behind it.  This website could never have come into being if not for your collective support and encouragement!

Unique Visitors Since
02/28/20